Chapter 87: The Kaguya's Desperation, Part 1
"Everyone! Focus your chakra! Use the Dance of the Iron Thread Flower! The barrier is about to break!" Kaguya Wei roared, his eyes fixed on the shimmering Uzumaki barrier, which was now flickering erratically under the relentless assault.
"Acknowledged, Patriarch! Bone Release: Dance of the Iron Thread Flower!"
In unison, the Kaguya warriors slammed their arms forward. From their flesh erupted massive, lance-like bones. The tips of these lances began to spin at a terrifying speed the moment they touched the barrier, acting like monstrous drills. The already strained fuinjutsu flickered violently, a spiderweb of cracks spreading across its surface.
"Now, for the final blow! Bone Release: Willow Dance!" Kaguya Wei himself lunged forward, a long, whip-like bone snapping from his forearm. It lashed against the barrier with the unpredictable, cutting force of a willow branch in a storm.
With a sound like shattering glass, the legendary Uzumaki barrier dissolved into motes of fading chakra.
"Warriors of the Kaguya!" Wei bellowed, forming a straight, sword-like bone from his other arm. "Take this land! Every resource, every leaf of Frost-Dew Herb, is ours now! Charge!"
He led the berserk rush into the Uzumaki compound.
The Uzumaki clansmen stood ready, a final line of defense. Each one stood before a massive, unrolled scroll, their faces set in grim determination.
"Patriarch, where are the Senju?" a Uzumaki elder cried out, his voice strained with panic. "It's been a day! Where are our allies?!"
They had held the Kaguya at the barrier for a full day, but the promised Senju reinforcements were nowhere to be seen. Doubt and fear were beginning to cripple their resolve. While their sealing arts could suppress almost any ninjutsu or powerful individual, they were ill-suited to facing a horde of battle-crazed lunatics like the Kaguya, whose entire fighting style was a direct, brutal application of their own bodies.
"Our survival cannot depend on others! I was wrong to place our faith so completely in an alliance!" the Uzumaki Patriarch, Uzumaki Arashi, declared, his voice cutting through the fear. "Uzumaki! Stand your ground! Prepare for battle!"
As he spoke, he unsealed the scroll on his own back. A long, gleaming katana, covered in intricate sealing formulae, appeared in his hand. With a defiant cry, he met Kaguya Wei's charge head-on.
"Old fool! You've grown fat off the suffering of my clan for years!" Kaguya Wei snarled, his bone sword clashing against the sealed katana. "Today, we collect our debt in blood!"
The two patriarchs were evenly matched. While Wei's attacks were ferocious and direct, Arashi's sealing techniques created powerful defensive fields that deflected and neutralized the blows. However, further down the line, the battle was turning into a slaughter. The Uzumaki, masters of indirect combat and complex techniques, were being systematically butchered by the Kaguya, whose superior physicality, battle-hardened instincts, and utter lack of self-preservation made them a terrifying foe in close-quarters combat.
Just as it seemed the Uzumaki line would break completely, the very earth around them trembled.
"Wood Style: Nativity of a World of Trees!"
A forest of giant trees erupted from the ground, forming a new, living wall between the Uzumaki and their attackers. Standing atop the tallest tree was Senju Hashirama, his presence like a calming, yet formidable, storm.
"Kaguya Wei!" Hashirama's voice boomed across the battlefield. "Explain this madness!"
A flicker of confusion crossed Kaguya Wei's face before being replaced by a sneer. "Senju! So, you finally show your face. But are you not afraid that while your main force is here, a fire might start in your own backyard?"
"My backyard… you…?" Hashirama's brow furrowed.
"You've guessed it, haven't you?" Kaguya Wei pressed, a desperate gamble taking shape in his mind. "We did not come here alone. Even as we speak, your precious clan lands are likely being overrun by the Uchiha!"
Hashirama stared at him for a long moment, and then a laugh, genuine and without malice, escaped his lips. "Hahaha! Kaguya Wei, you have been deceived. It was the Uchiha themselves who brought us the warning of your attack. Why would they do that, only to then attack us? Your logic is flawed."
Hearing Hashirama's straightforward, almost naive rebuttal, Kaguya Wei felt a cold dread seep into his bones. Everyone knew Senju Hashirama was a man of his word; he was incapable of such a complex lie. If he said the Uchiha had warned him… then it was the truth.
Which could only mean one thing. The Uchiha had played them all. The Kaguya clan hadn't been a partner in a scheme; they had been the unwitting pawns. And if that was true, then their undefended homeland…
A wave of utter hopelessness washed over Kaguya Wei. They were not conquerors. They were lambs led to the slaughter.